Gastrointestinal absorption of metals (51Cr, 65Zn, 95mTc, 109Cd, 113Sn, 147Pm, and 238Pu) by rats and swine.

Adult and neonatal rats and neonatal pigs were gavaged with solutions of metal radionuclides to determine gastrointestinal absorption. Zinc-65 and technetium-95m were well-absorbed by both age groups; chromium-51, cadmium-109, tin-113, promethium-147, and plutonium-238 were not. The quantities of the poorly absorbed metals that were absorbed by neonates were between 4 and 100 times higher than those absorbed by adult rats. Autoradiograms prepared from the entire small intestine of the neonatal rat showed that 109Cd was retained in the duodenum. In contrast, measurements in the piglets showed much higher 109Cd retention in the ileum than in the duodenum. Autoradiograms and radiochemical measurements of 147Pm and 238Pu in both neonatal rats and swine showed the highest level of retention in the ileum. The results indicate that, for most of the metals studied, absorption from the gastrointestinal tract is substantially higher for neonatal than for adult rats.